Psalm on Change | The Pastor's Workshop

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Author

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Scripture

Exodus 14:10-22 , Joshua 1:1-9, Matthew 4:18-20, Acts 9:1-19, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Psalm 121:1-3

Transition is one of the givens in our lives, and we only live well, we only manage our lives well, when we manage these transitions well. Our world changes; the circumstances of our lives change. The...

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Nudges for the Worse

Author

Andy Crouch

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Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 , Genesis 13:10-12, Exodus 32:1-4 , Matthew 4:8-10, Romans 7:15-20, Psalm 1:1-3

As popularized in Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s fascinating book by the same name, nudges are small changes in the environment around us that make it easier for us to make the choices we want to ...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Matthew 4:12-23

Author

Dustin Ray

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Scripture

Matthew 4:12-23, Romans 5:12-21, Matthew 3:2-3, Isaiah 42:1-4, Hebrews 12:2, Genesis 1:3, Ephesians 2:1-10, Romans 8:3, Psalm 68:18, Ephesians 4:8

Preaching Angle: John Arrested, Jesus Preaches the Kingdom The major event in redemptive history which immediately precedes this passage is Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. I can’t imagine a 40 d...

lectionary

Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Author

Dustin Ray

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Scripture

Matthew 4:12-23, Romans 5:12-21, Matthew 3:2-3, Isaiah 42:1-4, Hebrews 12:2, Genesis 1:3, Ephesians 2:1-10, Romans 8:3, Psalm 68:18, Ephesians 4:8

Preaching Commentary Preaching Angle: John Arrested, Jesus Preaches the Kingdom The major event in redemptive history which immediately precedes this passage is Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness....

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Author

D. Michael Lindsay

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 12:1-4 , Psalm 23:1-4, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Matthew 4:18-22, Joshua 1:1-9

At their core, transitions are the internal adjustments by which we reorient ourselves to new environments, new experiences, and new seasons of life.

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Author

Tod E. Bolsinger

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Scripture

Daniel 1:8, Genesis 37:39–50, Exodus 2:4, 14–17, Matthew 4:1–11, 2 Corinthians 11:23–29, Psalm 46:

Resilience is not something that can be mustered in a moment of “rising to the occasion.” It is formed over a long period before the crisis of testing so that it can continue the transformation during...

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Our Invitations Determine our Future

Author

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

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Scripture

Genesis 3:1-7, Deuteronomy 30:19-20, Jonah 1:1-3, Matthew 4:18-22 , Luke 9:57-62 , Psalm 25:4-5

The things we say yes to and the things we say no to determine the terrain of our future. My convoluted journey is posted with invitations, and my RSVPs account for the twists and turns. Sometimes, ha...

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Author

Philip Reiff

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Scripture

Matthew 4:1-11, Acts 2:1-4 , John 20:24-29, Psalm 19:1-4 , Psalm 6:10, Psalm 66:5-7

Arguments are ineffectual unless supported by events.

liturgy

Leader: Tonight old dreams die and new

Author

Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi

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Scripture

Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 2:1-20, Luke 2:13-14, Luke 2:8-20, Romans 15:13, Luke 1:46-55, Psalm 96:11-12, Luke 2:20, John 1:9, Luke 2:29-32, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Matthew 4:16, Matthew 5:14-16, Acts 2:1-4, Isaiah 11:6-9

Leader: Tonight old dreams die and new dreams come to life. The Promise is fulfilled! People: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace. Leader: Hope gives way to joy and prayer to proclamati...

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Author

Robert Quinn

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 12:1-4, Exodus 13:17-18, Matthew 4:18-22, Psalm 119:105, 2 Corinthians 5:7

In embarking on the journey, we must leave the world of certainty. We must courageously journey to a strange place where there are a lot of risks and much is at stake, a place where there are new prob...

liturgy

Nunc Dimittis

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Scripture

Luke 2:29-32, Luke 1:78-79, Isaiah 9:2, John 8:12, Matthew 4:16, Acts 13:47, Psalm 98:2-3, Luke 2:10-11, John 1:9, Revelation 21:23

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, To be a light to lig...

liturgy

As we call ourselves to worship, let us

Author

C. Hassell Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 10:17, Psalm 95:6-7, Philippians 2:6-8, Hebrews 4:15, Matthew 4:1-11, Isaiah 53:5

As we call ourselves to worship, let us remember that our God is an awesome God, who in Jesus Christ has lived in our flesh, faced our temptations, gone to cross for, and lives today in heaven. In thi...

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The Paradox of Technology

Author

Andy Crouch

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 11:1-9 , Exodus 32:1-6, Isaiah 44:9-20 , Matthew 4:1-4 , 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, Psalm 20:7

Here is the heart of the paradox: Technology is a brilliant, praiseworthy expression of human creativity and cultivation of the world. But it is at best neutral in actually forming human beings who ca...

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The Compromise of the Hunter & the Bear

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Judges 16:4-21 , Exodus 8:25-32, 1 Kings 22:1-40, Matthew 4:1-11 , 2 Corinthians 6:14-15 , Psalm 1:1-2

There is a Russian parable about compromise that goes like this: A hunter raised his rifle, aiming carefully at a large bear. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, the bear spoke in a calm, soothi...

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How we Deal with the Desert

Author

Bianca Juarez Olthoff

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Scripture

Proverbs 3:5-6, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Hosea 2:14, Isaiah 43:19, Psalm 63:1, Matthew 4:1, Deuteronomy 8:2

We all go through desert seasons and have the opportunity to determine how we will respond. The cyclical frustrations I faced in regard to my desire for control, fear, and the longing to feel chosen w...

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Author

Iain Matthew

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Scripture

Genesis 12:1-4, Exodus 13:17-18, Matthew 4:18-22, Psalm 23:, John 16:33

The journey has to feel like night because it leads to the unknown. If Christianity meant mere maintenance, then bewilderment or darkness would spell disaster. But . . . darkness is a condition of the...

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Sad Will be the Day

Author

John C. Maxwell

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Scripture

Isaiah 6:8 , Exodus 3:10-12 , Nehemiah 2:2-5, Philippians 3:12-14, Psalm 42:1-2, Matthew 4:18-20

Phillips Brooks, the author of the famous hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” He wrote: Sad will be the day for every man when he becomes absolutely contented with the life he is living, with the thoug...

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Lori Loughlin and The Problem with Shortcuts

Author

Max Lucado

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 27:35-36 , 2 Samuel 6:6-7, Exodus 32:1-4 , Matthew 4:8-10, Psalm 37:7, Acts 5:1-5

How many shortcuts have been justified with the best of intentions? At the sentencing for her role in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal, actress Lori Loughlin addressed the court: “I mad...

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Vocation: A Calling From God

Author

Tom Nelson

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 3:10-12, Isaiah 49:1, Romans 11:29, Matthew 4:18-19, Ephesians 4:1, Psalm 139:13-16

I can lose my job; I might be released from a position. My career can come to an end when I retire from the organization I work in. But my vocation comes from God; it remains and is not in the end som...

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Author

Viktor E. Frankl

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 39:9, Exodus 20:3, Deuteronomy 6:20-21, Matthew 4:4, Hebrews 11:24-26 , Psalm 78:4

Man is pushed by drives. But he is pulled by values.

liturgy

O Lord our God, who first made light to

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Scripture

John 8:12-20, Psalm 136:, John 1:1-14, Psalm 27:, Isaiah 60:1-5, Psalm 119:105, Hebrews 1:3, John 11:40, Philippians 2:9-11, Matthew 4:12-17

O Lord our God, who first made light to shine out of darkness and now awakens us again to praise your goodness and ask for your grace: accept now, in your boundless mercy, the offering of our worship ...

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Following: Harder than it Looks

Author

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 9:23, Isaiah 58:11, Psalm 25:4-5, Proverbs 16:9, John 10:27, Matthew 4:19

In her book, Invitations from God, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun shares a great analogy of the difficulty of faithful discipleship: it’s not always easy to follow: Recently I had to follow another car to a ...

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Author

Hans Urs von Balthasar

Keywords

The Incarnation

Scripture

Colossians 3:16, Matthew 4:4, Isaiah 55:11, Psalm 119:105, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 4:12, John 1:14

The Word that is God took a body of flesh, in order to be man…He took on, at the same time, a body consisting of syllables. scripture,... verbal utterance.

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Author

Gordon T. Smith

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 3:10-12, 1 Samuel 3:8-10, Matthew 4:18-20, Acts 9:3-6, 2 Timothy 1:9, Psalm 139:13-16

Older notions of vocation and vocational development assumed that people wrestled with matters of vocation as a young adult. It has been commonly assumed that vocational counseling was provided in hig...

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Author

William Goode

Keywords

The Early Church

Scripture

Matthew 22:37-40, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 119:105, Colossians 3:16, Matthew 4:4, Acts 17:11, John 5:39, 2 John 1:9, 1 Timothy 4:16

The Catholic Christians (Early Church) will neither speak nor endure to hear anything in religion that is a stranger to Scripture; it being an evil heart of immodesty to speak those things which are n...

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Living Fully in God’s Call

Author

Tom Nelson

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 12:1-4 , Exodus 3:1-12, Micah 6:8, Matthew 4:18-22 , Ephesians 2:10, Psalm 90:12 , Matthew 9:9

It is helpful to understand the call of God in three distinct ways. First, there is the call to be a Christian. The God of creation invites us to respond to his love. This call comes through Jesus, wh...

liturgy

The Song of Simeon

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Scripture

Luke 2:29-32, Luke 1:78-79, John 8:12, Matthew 4:16, Acts 13:47, Psalm 98:2-3, John 1:9, Revelation 21:23, Isaiah 42:6-7, Isaiah 9:2, Luke 2:10-11

Lord, you now have set your servant free to go in peace as you have promised; For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see: A Light to enlighten the nat...

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Your Cell Will Teach You Everything

Author

Thomas Merton

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 46:10, 1 Kings 19:9-18, Matthew 5:5-15, Daniel 3:19-27, Exodus 13:21-22, Mark 1:35-39, Luke 5:16, Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Genesis 32:24-30, Psalm 62:1, Hosea 2:14, Habakkuk 2:1, 1 Samuel 3:1-10, Isaiah 26:3

A certain brother went to Abbot Moses in Scete, and asked him for a good word. And the Elder said to him: Go, sit in your cell and your cell will teach you everything. An elder said: The monk’s ce...

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Repentance for the Religious

Author

John W. Rilling

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 3:25, Hebrews 9:28, Matthew 4:1-2, 1 Peter 2:24, Psalm 51:1-2, 2 Corinthians 5:21

Written almost a hundred years ago, this excerpt from the Reverend John W. Rilling points out one of the main reasons we continue to observe Lent, a period of repentance and discipline for many who ca...

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Pragmatism vs. the Pursuit of Truth

Author

R. C. Sproul

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 1:15–21, Daniel 3:16–18 , 1 Kings 3:16–28 , Matthew 4:1–11, Galatians 1:6–10, Psalm 73:

Pragmatism may be defined simply as the approach to reality that defines truth as “that which works.” The pragmatist is concerned about results, and the results determine the truth. The problem with t...

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